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Point taken Old Hack, but does that apply to all so-called 'self-publishing' companies, or just FeedARead?

Pretty much. The general rule is that if you are paying to be published and the publishing company is taking a cut of the profits and/or using your money to subsidize production, then it's vanity publishing.

Self-publishing would be going through a printing company (like Lightning Source, I believe) and paying for everything yourself--on-line, this would mean getting your own cover, hiring your own editor/copy editor, and putting your work on all the available sites (Amazon, Smashwords, etc.), among other things. Everything is on your shoulders.

1. Are the covers better than the average self-published such?
2. Is the editing better than the average self-published such? (free samples should suffice to see that)
3. Do the already published books in the potential author's genre hold good sales ranks on Amazon?
4. Do the already published books in the potential author's genre have a lot of positive and authentic-sounding reviews?
5. Is the contract fair?
6. Are there any complaints online by authors who feel they have been treated unfairly?

Points 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 will take about half an hour of research to check out, while 5 probably needs actual email communication; the cumulative result should point to a yea or nay answer.

Unless all that matters is having one's book published by a 'real' indie publisher--a valid enough psychological state--in which case only the contract matters, and the possible unfair play.

An additional point--which may or may not matter--is the publisher a one-person operation or not? Sometimes one-person operations suddenly collapse when personal emergency strikes, and everything else stops being important, including you the author and your book. A larger organization can have members struck by individual emergencies yet still function. On the other hand many great agents are one-person operations, so this one is more an issue to be decided by intuition. If the one-person operation has been around, without major scandal, even with some success stories, for a number of years, could be OK. Unless the person in question is by now 90.

Thanks for that - and all that is being done, of course. But that's where Bewares and Recs is so good as an additional source of info - because if someone has had dealings with the publisher they can give information over and above what I (or my writing friend) can research - (and do for any publisher I deal with).

There is no question over their legitimacy. They distribute into Waterstones, the only major chain of bookstores in the UK, and I have bought their books. If the nominal fee puts you off subbing then that is your business. It did not deter me.

For those who haven't clicked through, the fee (£2) is for their using Submittable, which they justify thusly: "This is in part to avoid having to upgrade to an expensive license for the submissions platform we use, but also to require you to jump a small hurdle to submit your work."

The money goes to Submittable, not the client, but it's still down to the writer's tolerance for subsidizing operational expenses.

ICAO
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Censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion. -- Henry Steele CommagerAchievers strive for excellence. Perfectionists drive themselves to extinction. -- A Grapple A DayI've never known any trouble that an hour's reading didn't assuage. -- Charles DeSecondat

I guess it depends on my perception of the publisher involved, if I want to pay their entry fees. It's not that different from figuring in the cost of snail mail entries. *However* I will say this: publications and agents who require paper copy entries are now way down on my list from those who allow email or digital form entry.

A closer analogy might be art contests. I'll happily pay their entry fees as long as those aren't too high, and the contest is reputable with worthwhile prizes. But when fees go too high, I back away until they can prove good reasons for the hike.

I have no horse in this particular race, since I'm unlikely to write anything Snowbooks might want.

Some publishers factor the cost of Submittable into their business expenses, and so don't charge. One SFF magazine only accepts a certain number of submissions a month in order to keep the Submittable fee something they can afford.